Mrs Payan Reads

This weekly meme is hosted by the lovely ladies at Teach Mentor Texts.  Head over there for more great ideas of kid literature and young adult books to add to your TBR.

This was a slower reading week for me because I attended the Wisconsin State Reading Association conference on Thursday and Friday.  It was a busy few days and you can read more about it here. The beginning of the week was busy with getting sub plans ready and keeping up with grading.

Books I Finished This Week:

This was a quick read and I can’t wait to book talk it to my class on Monday.  I have talked about it before but had not read it yet.  Now I know that my middle school students will love it and I know I will be able to sell it better.  I love the way the book is like a case study.  What a fun book!

I LOVED this book.  I tell you why in my review of the book here.  Gayle Forman is quickly becoming one of my absolute favorite authors.  Her prose is so beautiful and there are so many lines that resonated with me and made me slow down to reflect.  I highly recommend this one.

This one was a fun and quick read.  It is definitely one that younger middle school students would enjoy.  I really loved the voice of the narrator.  What if you could suddenly hear dead people?  How would that change your life?  This was an interesting exploration of how that would affect a young girl.  I would absolutely recommend this one as well.

Books I am Currently Reading:

I am reading Book Love by Penny Kittle.  It is a must-read for all secondary teachers.  It is reminding me of why I work so hard to give students the time to read in my classroom and the support in finding books they will love.  I also am reading Bomb by Steve Sheinken.
I also just started listening to The Selection by Kiera Cass.

Books I will read next:
There are so many books in my TBR pile that I can’t think straight sometimes.  Of course, while I was at the conference I ended up buying multiple books.  I also had a bunch of the books that I requested at the library come in this week.  I feel a little insane right now because I can’t seem to stop acquiring books.  I think I will probably pick one of the multiple books on my Kindle to read.  There have been a lot of good daily deals lately so there are many books on there that I am excited to read.  I also will probably read Prodigy before taking it to school…although I might take that one to the student I know is waiting for it.  I will probably also start reading one of the Jeff Wilhelm books I picked up this weekend.  His ideas sparked a lot of thought for me so I want to get more information to be able to apply them asap.

What are you reading this week?  Happy Reading!

     It is entirely due to my Twitter account that I ended up attending the Wisconsin State Reading Association conference this week.  Over the summer, I decided to participate in Teachers Write which was started by Kate Messner, Jen Vincent, and Gae Polisner.  I will have to admit, I was a bit more of a lurker and did not quite get as much writing done as I had hoped, but it did strengthen my commitment to writing and writing instruction.  Through this amazing experience, I got to “meet” two incredible authors as well as reading insights from a plethora of wonderful writers.  Towards the end of the summer, on one of the last discussions, I noticed another teacher saying that they would be seeing Kate Messner in February in Wisconsin.  I immediately looked it up and found this awesome convention!
    Let me just say that this conference was FILLED with big names in education.  For each session there were AT LEAST 4 sessions that I would have loved to go to (and only 2 sessions to sign up for).
Each day, I narrowed the choices down to these presenters and then had to pick from there.  I would have loved to go to all of their sessions:
On Thursday: Donalyn Miller, Aimee Buckner, Ellin Keene, Georgia Heard, Jeff Wilhelm, Doug Buehl, Chris Tovani
On Friday: Kate Messner, Jack Gantos, Douglas Fisher, Peter Johnston, Jeff Anderson, Linda Hoyt, Richard Allington
*This is the short list! There were several more big names in reading education that I ruled out for a variety of reasons.

At least on Thursday I could pay a little extra and have lunch at a smaller setting with some of the Rockstars!  I was able to eat with Donalyn Miller and loved our excellent table conversation about reading.

   On Thursday, the whirlwind day started out with finding and meeting Erin (@teachandgolf).  We sat together with one of Erin’s colleagues for the day’s keynote with Jeff Wilhelm—who actually did some of his graduate work in Wisconsin.  His talk was really based on the ideas in his book Teaching Literacy for Love and Wisdom: Being the Book and Being the Change.  It was a heartfelt message and I felt myself tearing up during sections of his presentation.  Of course, I immediately bought the book.  I love the way Wilhelm makes the case for units that teach kids about how to be in this world.  This is the kind of teaching I want to do and I cannot wait to apply this concept to my planning.  My biggest a-ha was the idea of turning essential questions into existential questions to deepen the students’ awareness of their world.
    The first session I attended was Aimee Buckner’s session about Nonfiction notebook writing.  Her ideas were applicable and got me thinking about the informational writing that I am working on right now with my students.  Many of the strategies she presented will fit right into the research unit I am working on with students and I loved the practical ideas.  I loved Notebook Know-How and am excited for her new book that will be coming out soon.

LUNCH WAS AWESOME!
   
     Not only did I get to meet and talk to Donalyn Miller (@donalynbooks), I also got to meet Tom and Leah Whitford.  I just recently “met” Tom on Twitter but it has been great to connect with more Wisconsin educators and I am so excited to have met them in person.  I may be a shy member and kind of quiet about it but I am a card-carrying member of the Nerdy Book Club tribe and I was so happy to have this small pocket of time to have that conversation.  (I also got to be a fangirl and I am not ashamed to own up to being a bit of a groupie)
   The two afternoon sessions I attended were also great.  First, I went to see Chris Tovani.  She was presenting ideas from her newest book on assessment, So What Do They Really Know? I read this book over the summer and it was great to be reminded of some of her excellent ideas for feedback.  The way she stressed the idea of feedback being most important from the student to the teacher really got me thinking about my classroom.  I know I will be going back to her book soon to apply some more of her great ideas about assessment.
   Jeff Wilhelm presented the last session I attended on Thursday.  He talked about the idea of using drama in the classroom to motivate students and set them up for success in reading.  I absolutely loved the activity we did and now am a proud owner of You Gotta BE the Book.  I know that these strategies will start to work themselves into my classroom as well.
     Friday started out snowy.  I thought I was going to be late to the morning keynote because of all the snow removal necessary.  I got there right in time for the keynote and found out that Linda Darling-Hammond had not been able to get to Milwaukee.  Thank goodness for technology!  She did her entire presentation through video conference and I was really amazed.  It is so nice to learn about the research which supports the efforts of teachers to make schools more effective.  I wish the policy makers would listen to these statistics and understand that what is being done to our schools will not make us more competitive in the world.  Rather, it is widening the gap in our country.
    Friday morning I went to Kate Messner’s session.  After all, she was the reason I signed up for this conference in the first place!  I was so glad to be able to see her TED talk in person.  The idea of building an imaginary world is so important in writing fiction.  I have some strategies that I can immediately apply.  Plus, I met Kate Messner!  If you haven’t read her books, you should.  She has some great titles for all ages.  Also, she is just a really great person who gives back to the world in a big way.
   In the afternoon I attended a session about literature circles.  The teachers presenting had some great ideas about how to take literature circles online and give kids online tools for responding to books.  I definitely did some thinking in this session about how I could incorporate their great ideas next time I do literature circles.  The best takeaway for me was the use of a digital recorder to record the group conversations.  This is great for accountability and discussion standards as well as a good way for absent students to make up the work.  So simple but absolutely brilliant!
   The last session, but certainly not the least, was with Jeff Anderson.  He was talking about the ideas in his new book 10 Things Every Writer Needs to Know.  I read this book during the summer and was almost overwhelmed by the abundance of great strategies for teaching writing.  It was nice to have some time to remember the ideas and see them in action.  I will definitely dive back into this book to go slower and savor the ideas so I can start to apply them in my classroom.

Overall, I left the conference with 4 new professional books and 3 that I want to go back to.  I have some new friends that I will enjoy continuing the virtual connection with, and my brain is still swirling with all of the amazing ideas. I feel energized and ready to jump back in on Monday and continue the work of creating readers and writers in my classroom!

Title: Just One Day
Author: Gayle Forman
Published: January 2013

Source: Borrowed this one from my Twitter friend Jennifer Fountain (@jennann516).  Yeah for twitter and book bloggers!

My Summary:
Allyson has always had a plan and is completely organized.  She is the type of girl who goes back to the hotel instead of going out to nightclubs while on a teen trip to Europe.  She is a good girl and does not do spontaneous things.  Then one day at the end of her Europe trip, she meets Willem, who is a very spontaneous person.  He lives his life by letting “accidents” lead him in the direction he might go.  Allyson, or Lulu as Willem calls her, takes off to Paris with him for just one day.  You will have to read the book to find out what happens to Allyson and Willem.  There are too many spoilers that could happen if I keep summarizing.

My Thoughts:
     I absolutely loved this book and the beauty of the writing.  I am tempted to immediately dive in for another read.  The author deals with big topics like the way that relationships between parents and children change when they leave home for college, and the very real physical symptoms of depression, and how lonely life can be sometimes. These things are treated with seriousness but not heartbreaking heaviness.  Allyson is a character that grows exponentially in this book.  I was rooting for her and hoping for her success in whatever endeavor.  My heart kind of breaks a little for her mother who is having such a hard time letting go of the control she had over Allyson’s life.  I also am intrigued by the depth of character in Willem hinted at in the book.  I want to know what made him the way he is, although I am pretty sure of my theory from the hints the author gives us in this book.
     As in other books by Gayle Forman, she surprised me with twists and turns that were unexpected.  This book is a book about finding yourself and navigating tricky relationships.  It is also a book about being brave and letting yourself be vulnerable.  Another thing I loved was the way Shakespeare’s plays became central to the story.  I am left with the sense that I am missing out and need to go back to reread As You Like It and Twelfth Night.  It is awesome when an author can weave that kind of excitement into a new book so that readers are inspired to read other greats.
     Lastly, I did not have this experience, but I did have a love story that started in the year I was studying abroad and felt those tiny stabs of doubt as Allyson does (mine ended up in the amazing marriage that I have with my Spaniard husband).  I traveled alone in Europe and felt many of the same things that Allyson feels while traveling.  I also have been to Paris, but it was nothing like the Paris Allyson and Willem experience which was off the beaten path and a bit bohemian.  Perhaps this is why I loved this book so much.  I truly connected with the character and felt that some of what was written could have been about me at that age.  I would highly recommend this book to high school students and adults alike and now I will be impatiently waiting for the sequel.

Since elephants are my second favorite thing after books I decided that my ratings would be done in elephants. 5 out of 5 elephants for this most memorable book.

Books Finished This Week:

I finished a number of non-fiction picture books that I picked up at the library last week

A Rock is Lively by Diana Hutts Aston is a great book to use as a mentor text.  I am doing a unit right now about research and will be talking to students soon about informational text structure.  This will be one of the examples that I use.  I love how this book helps the reader learn about rocks and makes the information accessible to everyone.

I learned so much about Ben Franklin from this book!  Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin by Robert Byrd is a Sibert Honor book and I can see why.  The book highlights the most important accomplishments of Ben Franklin’s life in a simple way and has beautiful pictures to accompany the information.

This book caught my eye when I was at the library.  A book about hair?  So intriguing.  This is a good example of how any topic can be researched and made interesting.  The book is structured like a timeline and tells fun facts about hairstyles throughout history.  I will definitely bring this one in as a mentor text for our research unit as well.  I recommend Big Wig by Kathleen Krull to students and teachers alike.

Professional books finished this week:

Speaking of research, Energize Research Reading and Writing: Fresh Strategies to Spark Interest, Develop Independence, and Meet Key Common Core Standards by Christopher Lehman is a must-read for teachers in grades 4-8.  I was able to apply strategies immediately and am planning lessons for my research unit based almost entirely on these amazing strategies.  I appreciate the way that the author makes the process of researching accessible to students and reinforces the good practice of giving students ownership and independence in their research.  I would highly recommend this book to ALL teachers.

I highly recommend this one as well.  I am working on a unit using American Born Chinese and wanted more lessons that addressed the particular conventions of graphic novels.  I ordered this one along with another book about teaching graphic novels and the book Understanding Comics by Scott McLeod.  Even though this one is written for teachers of grades 3-6, I found plenty of excellent strategies to use with my 8th graders.  I am excited to go in and make a graphic board of our visualizations with The Outsiders which I am reading aloud.  I am also going to use some great ideas for vocabulary instruction this week.  I really liked the way Terry Thompson organized Adventures in Graphica with the comprehension strategies in mind.  The ideas in this book would absolutely work in seamlessly into reader’s workshop.

The rest of the books from this week:

When the TinTin movie was released last year, my husband was over-the-top excited.  He grew up in Spain and this was one of his favorite comic series.  I really enjoyed the movie and wanted to read some of the comics after finding out that it was about a reporter who solved mysteries.  I enjoyed this comic, although it is quite racist since it was written so long ago.

I have a confession to make.  I was not as thrilled with The False Prince as many people were.  I thought it was a good book, but it was not one I would rave over.  I think it had to do with the fact that so many people were raving about it that my expectations were so high and the book just couldn’t live up to them.  I was thrilled when I was approved on Netgalley for The Runaway King by Jennifer Nielsen because I wanted a chance to give this series another try.  I am so glad I did because I LOVED this book.  I think I need to go back to read The False Prince again because these characters are amazing and I love the adventure in this book.  Jaron is stubborn, but loving and I can’t wait to see what happens for him in the next book.

Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate is a moving story about a refugee who has just arrived in the United States.  Kek is trying to adjust to life here while at the same time grieving for his brother and father who were killed in front of him and not knowing what happened to his mother.  I really enjoyed the voice of Kek and the confusion he felt at not knowing some of the things in this culture was so realistic.  This is absolutely one I will recommend to students because it is one that will help them build empathy.  Understanding the immigrant experience is so important and this book is one that will help all readers get it.

I loved The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington.  This was a fun read and a great horror story that I will absolutely recommend to students.  See more in my review here.

What I am Currently Reading:
I started the book Bomb.  After seeing the ALA awards on Monday, I was happy that I had this one sitting on my shelf at home.  So far, I am loving how engaging this story is.

What’s Next:
I will read Just One Day by Gayle Forman for sure.  I also will probably start Book Love by Penny Kittle.  I then have literally hundreds of books to choose from so I will just pick based on my mood this week.

Title: The dead and buried
Author: Kim Harrington
Publication: January 2013
Source: Netgalley

This weekly meme is hosted by the lovely ladies at Teach Mentor Texts.  Head over there for more great ideas of kid literature and young adult books to add to your TBR.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I enjoyed Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson.  I have an advanced copy from netgalley and will publish a more in-depth review closer to the March publication date.  Let me just say that I LOVE 19th century literature…I gobbled up the Romantic novels of that period when I was younger.  Gothic novels were so popular during this time period in literature and I have read every last one I could get my hands on.  Had I gone on to get a PhD in English, this would have been my focus for research and publication.  Jane Nickerson wrote a book that could fit right in with the classics such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights for the Gothic elements included.  This book is a retelling of the Bluebeard fairy tale and is told in such a way that it made me immediately want to dig out my copy of Jane Eyre to reread that classic.  Not everybody is going to love this book as much as I did, nor will everyone appreciate the gothic elements as I did when reading, but I think this author deserves recognition for what had to be a very intentional decision to write using these elements.  I will absolutely be buying this one when it comes out and sharing it with everyone I know.

*This one gave me a bit of a book hangover so my list is a little shorter this week 🙂

The gruesome pictures on the cover of this one caught my eye.  I am working on a research unit with my students and I have a student who is interested in Forensic Science so I will definitely be bringing this one for her to use.  Forensic Identification:Putting a Name and Face on Death by Elizabeth Murray is a (somewhat gruesome) non-fiction picture book.  The book presents case studies and describes the way that investigators go about positively identifying bodies.  I found some of the writing a bit dry but I was very interested in the information and learned quite a bit about the process.

This one is part of the Printz challenge I am doing.  I was intrigued by the cover of Stolen: A Letter to My Captor and picked it up at the last Scholastic warehouse sale.  Gemma is kidnapped from the Bankok airport and wakes up in the middle of the desert.  Over the next days and weeks she gets to know her captor and realizes that she is in an impossible situation.  The book is written as a letter Gemma writes to her captor.  This novel is an exploration of what it might be like to be a kidnap victim with Stockholm syndrome.  I would highly recommend this book to adolescents and adults alike.

Books I am Currently Reading:
The Runaway King is definitely starting to pick up…I am sure I will be done with this one soon.  I am still reading Energize and Adventures in Graphica as well.

What’s Next?
Whatever floats my boat this week.  

Title: Stolen: A Letter to My Captor
Author: Lucy Christopher
Publication: May 4, 2009
Source: Bought at Scholastic Warehouse Sale

Goodreads Summary:
It happened like this. I was stolen from an airport. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Taken to sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him.

A letter from nowhere.

Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back?

The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don’t exist – almost.

My Thoughts: This book was compelling. I was caught up quickly in the action of the story and suffered with Gemma as she woke up in the outback. I liked the point of view in the story. The format of a letter written to her captor really brings the reader into the action of the story and gives the reader a glimpse of her emotional struggles. I agree with the summary that the Australian Outback becomes almost a character in the book and it made me want to see this amazing desert for myself. It was disturbing to think about the lengths that someone might go to in abducting another person. I love the way that the author revealed a little at a time to the reader just as it was revealed to Gemma. I absolutely recommend this book to teens and adults alike–it is a look into the complex emotions of a victim with Stockholm syndrome.

     As a reader, I understand the importance of the lessons learned from books.  I read to learn about life and to travel the world.  I read to improve my craft in whatever area I am currently interested in.  I read in Spanish to keep up my fluency in Spanish.  I get a lot from books and I work very hard to share that with my students.

    As an 8th grade teacher, I work to set up a workshop approach in my classroom.  I advocate for what I know to be the best support for my students in reading—time to READ.  Every year, I work to establish our independent reading time and to make my students understand that reading is power and they need to read.  I work hard and think of myself as a book dealer, because I am always pushing books into the hands of my students.  I watch and notice and talk to students and can tell you the exact moment that a student loses interest in a book.  I cajole and book talk and wax poetic about the virtues of the awesome books we have in the class library. Sometimes it gets frustrating because I have to work so hard to get these kids to read, but then I take a step back and remember to celebrate the small steps and feel better.

Some recent small victories that I have had include:

    “I didn’t understand it so I am reading this book now.”  This simple sentence started a party in my head the other day.  The student who spoke these words was one who I have been coaching since the beginning of the year.  He consistently has been choosing books that are too hard for him.  He gets about twenty pages in and he decides the book is “boring” and abandons it.  I have had numerous conversations with him about his book choices and why he thinks he starts to get bored with so many books.  We have talked about monitoring comprehension and he always comes away from the conference determined to keep track of his thinking, but pretty soon I see the book set aside and a new book in his hands.  The only books that he has finished this year are graphic novels.   This is fine with me, but he continues to want to read other books that are too hard for him.  So now, in January, I was ecstatic to hear him admit to me that he did not understand a book.  I see this as a huge step in the right direction for him.  Slowly but surely he is learning to monitor his comprehension so that he knows when he understands. This is a dormant reader learning to enjoy reading instead of going through the motions but always missing the boat.

    Another student came back to school after winter break and told me she had bought books with her iTunes gift cards over the holidays.  This student had only finished graphic novels so far this year and had abandoned every other book she picked up.  Now, in January, she has finished 2 novels on her iPod.  I was thrilled with the accomplishment and we celebrated together when she finished each one.  The decision that this student made to buy books when she could have bought music or movies showed me that her mindset has changed and she is becoming a reader.

     “I have read 5 books this year.  Before I had never finished a book.  I didn’t used to like reading but now I am coming around to reading more.” These are lines from a letter to me about reading from a student who did everything in his power to avoid reading at the beginning of the year.  This is powerful stuff.  Maybe he won’t finish the 40 book challenge this year, but he is becoming a reader who is making plans for his next book and learning his book preferences.

    And then there are the three girls that have this determination to meet the goal of reading 40 books this year.  Two of the three have learning disabilities and IEP goals in the area of reading.  All three are devouring books this year and sharing with each other.  We have had conversations about how overwhelmed we all feel with all the great books that we want to read.  I have watched as the books they are reading have started to get thicker and a little harder.  They recommend books to each other and to the class.  They all have siblings that they are starting to influence to read more also.  They eagerly discuss the books they are reading with me and rate their books as they go.  These are three voracious readers that will continue these habits into their adult lives because they have figured out that there is magic in reading.

All in all, I have a class of 28 urban 8th graders of whom 2 were avid readers when the year started.  Now, there are 4 that are still waking up from being dormant readers and 24 who are avid readers.  I will celebrate the success and continue to work to find the book that will wake up the few that remain.

What small victories have you had lately? Don’t forget to celebrate the small steps so that you won’t be bogged down with what there is left to do.

Title: What We Saw At Night
Author: Jacquelyn Mitchard
Publishing Date: January 8, 2013
Source: Netgalley

Goodreads Summary:
     Allie Kim suffers from Xeroderma Pigmentosum: a fatal allergy to sunlight that confines her and her two best friends, Rob and Juliet, to the night. When freewheeling Juliet takes up Parkour—the stunt-sport of scaling and leaping off tall buildings—Allie and Rob have no choice but to join her, if only to protect her. Though potentially deadly, Parkour after dark makes Allie feel truly alive, and for the first time equal to the “daytimers.”
     On a random summer night, the trio catches a glimpse of what appears to be murder. Allie alone takes it upon herself to investigate, and the truth comes at an unthinkable price. Navigating the shadowy world of specialized XP care, extreme sports, and forbidden love, Allie ultimately uncovers a secret that upends everything she believes about the people she trusts the most.

My Thoughts:  I was really excited to see this title on the shelves in Netgalley.  I remember when The Deep End of the Ocean was first published because my mother went out and bought it right away.  She had been reading Jacquelyn Mitchard’s columns in our local paper for years and was really excited to read her first book.  This was the first time I saw my mother that excited for a book release.  I read that book right after my mother did and was impressed with the depth of character and suspense in her debut novel.  When I saw that she had written a young adult title, I just had to try it out.  I love that this also reminded me about a great author who has written many novels that I need to look for now.

     This book really appealed to my love of murder mysteries and psychological thrillers.  I was really drawn in by these teenage characters who seek thrills to feel alive.  The mystery behind the secrets that they have seen unwinds a little at a time and had me hooked.  Allie is definitely a teenager and annoys the adult in me by not seeking help sooner, but I know that teens will identify with that.  All in all, this was a fantastic read and I will be desperately waiting to find out what happens next.

This weekly meme is hosted by the lovely ladies at Teach Mentor Texts.  Head over there for more great ideas of kid literature and young adult books to add to your TBR.

This was a slow reading week for me.  I was focusing on school towards the beginning of the week and then I got an awful stomach virus and was unable to do much reading.  I also tackled a big book so there are less books but maybe a similar amount of pages.

Books I Finished this week:

I have had this book since the cover caught my eye at a library sale a few months ago.  Then, while on Twitter, I realized from what someone said that it is a novel in verse.  I knew I could get through the book quickly and wanted to read more novels in verse so I picked it up.  All the Broken Pieces by Ann Burg is a beautiful novel.  It tells the story of a young boy who was airlifted out of Vietnam and now has an adoptive family in the USA.  It is so haunting to think of all the people that were psychologically damaged by that war and the author treats this subject in such a beautiful way.  I love that with a little bit of background knowledge young people will learn about this really important part of history.  I highly recommend this one.

What We Saw at Night by Jacquelyn Mitchard is a fun thriller.  I got this one on netgalley and will be seeking it out to purchase for my class library.  The main character in the book has XP, a rare disorder in which she is allergic to sunlight.  She and her friends go out after dark because that is when they can be outside.  The three of them start to do Parkour for fun and enjoy their stunts until one night they see something they shouldn’t have seen.  This book has twists and turns and keeps you on the edge of your seat.  It also is the start of a series and now I am chomping at the bit for the next one!

I enjoyed reading Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.  I loved reading about the Southern town and their particular ways of thinking.  I also loved the fantasy element and the mystery involved in the story.  In a lot of ways this book reminded me of Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan.  I will definitely recommend this one to fans of Twilight and others who just want a good mystery/fantasy to read.

Books I am currently reading:

I am still reading Energize: Research Reading and Writing by Chris Lehman.  There are so many great ideas in this book.  I needed to slow down and take some notes with this one.  I am also still reading Adventures in Graphica by Terry Thompson.  There are a lot of good points in this one about how graphic novels are a great medium to help teach comprehension.  I also just started the book Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson.  It is also a netgalley book which has a publishing date of March 12, 2013.  So far, I am really liking this retelling of the Bluebeard fairy tale.

On the Horizon:
I am not sure what I will choose to read this week.  I was just approved for a netgalley of The Runaway King so I will most likely read that but otherwise I will see what I feel like reading.